NGOs and faith groups to Obama & Putin: Hope is crumbling on your watch, save Syria’s ceasefire "Violence across Syria has escalated alarmingly, reportedly claiming a life on average every 25 minutes in the past 48 hours. We cannot stand by in the face of this catastrophe. Global NGOs and faith groups demand that President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin immediately use their personal diplomatic engagement to save what remains of the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreement.

Five years into a conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, conditions confronting civilians in Syria continue to deteriorate, particularly for children and youth. Warring parties continue to violate UN Security Council resolutions and international humanitarian law by deliberately and wantonly attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, including homes, markets, schools and hospitals leaving a deadly legacy of Unexploded Ordnance.

World not delivering on Gaza reconstruction promises, new report warns

Six months since donors pledged $3.5 billion towards Gaza's recovery, many people are worse off and not a single one of the 19,000 destroyed homes has been rebuilt. 100,000 people are still homeless and many are living in makeshift camps or schools.

(26 February 2015) – Six months have passed since a ceasefire on 26 August 2014 ended over seven weeks of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip. As UN agencies and international NGOs operating in Gaza, we are alarmed by the limited progress in rebuilding the lives of those affected and tackling the root causes of the conflict.

The Israeli-imposed blockade continues, the political process, along with the economy, are paralyzed, and living conditions have worsened.

44 Palestinian, Israeli, and international organizations are urgently calling on world leaders to stop Israeli plans to forcibly transfer thousands of Palestinian Bedouins out of their communities in the central part of the occupied West Bank and into a designated township.

Continued military operations are compounding a health care crisis in Gaza, with hospitals ill-prepared to meet the critical needs arising from a wide-scale emergency right now. The signatory organizations are calling for an immediate ceasefire, noting that all parties must respect international humanitarian law and abide by their obligations to protect civilians from harm.

As the impact of days of violent escalation worsens for civilians in Gaza and in Israel, a group of 38 aid and development agencies today urged world leaders to take swift action to enforce a ceasefire in order to protect civilian lives and infrastructure and prevent another widespread humanitarian disaster in Gaza brought on by a prolonged military confrontation.

Almost all societies have obstacles for
women participating fully as actors in politics, civil society and in their
daily lives. When threats to women's security are not recognised and measures
are not taken to ensure they are, women become marginalized.

In this report the Kvinna till
KvinnaFoundation highlights security threats faced by women in conflict
areas
divided into four separate chapters:

As a guide to the practicalities to rebuilding,
conflict resolving and other peacebuilding activities, this report provides
a model for women's participation at various stages and levels of the
peace process. The model is divided into three stages:

- During conflict,
- During peace negotiations,
- During the rebuilding process.

Drawn on numerous examples of women's efforts
in peace-building and reconstruction, the handbook is intended as a tool
for people working in areas affected by war and armed conflict and in the
peace and rebuilding process.